Sky Trees
by infireandice
Summary: Yuka needs help from Rei in math class and meets with him and the Iwatobi Swim Club boys for lunch. Will they find her as cute and beautiful as Rei does? And will any of them ask her on a date before Rei? [Rei x OC x Rin.]
1. Chapter 1

From her left came the hushed whisper, "...Otsuka-san..." though it fell on deaf ears. Her eyes had completely closed now without her noticing, and she calmly fell asleep. Though it only lasted for a second. "Otsuka-san!"

Yuka jolted awake, her chair groaning as she did so. "What?" she cried in alarm. She saw Ryagazaki looking at her cautiously. _I fell asleep? _she registered as her eyes swept across the classroom. She hadn't even noticed that she had closed her eyes let alone drifted off. She blamed math class, since it was always boring.

"Everything alright, Otsuka-san?" _Oh, great. Now my teacher knows I wasn't paying attention again, _thought the rational side of Yuka's brain, while the irrational and still sleepy side of her brain controlled her speech.

"What?" she repeated. "Oh... yeah! I just... noticed the time!" She fumbled with a laugh. Her teacher sighed stiffly then carried on as If she had said nothing. _Or at least he knows _now _that I wasn't paying attention. _Yuka sighed herself, slumping back into her seat to calm herself down after having jumped awake. She compared the two notebooks on her desk and noticed that her own was almost empty, except for the day's date and the first two math questions, whilst the other notebook had almost two full pages of writing. "Crap," she grumbled. She suddenly felt relieved and guilty at the same time when Ryagazaki-kun pushed his notebook even closer to her with a smile.

"Catch up, quick," he whispered. "I'll need to turn the page soon." Yuka returned the smile gratefully and quickly copied the workings-out from Rei's notebook. She didn't make a habit of cheating or copying others' work. Or... well, she did. But she didn't mean to. It was only in math and it was only from Rei, and Rei didn't seem to mind. In fact he blushed slightly when Yuka smiled at him and subconsciously shuffled closer to copy his work. Rei fiddled with his glasses, pushing them up his nose to try and distract himself and his warming cheeks. He would have cleared his throat also had he not been in a quietened classroom. Instead he focused on the teacher's handwriting and the upcoming questions. Though he couldn't help glancing down at Yuka by his side and thinking, _Yuka's handwriting is really beautiful._ Thinking about her didn't help the blush any, though.

"Thank you so much, Ryagazaki-kun!" Yuka sighed as the class finished and they packed away their books. "I honestly don't mean to be a lazy student. It's just this class!" She groaned the last part, then paused. "Wait, I don't mean this _class, _I just mean the subject. I don't think there's anything more boring in life than numbers." She paused again, then said, "Not that people who like numbers are boring..." Rei was smiling at her. She was just too cute. One moment she was being brutally honest and then the next she seemed to be apologising in case she was offending him. Which is probably why he blurted, "Call me Rei-kun." He sort of hesitated before the suffix, mentally hearing Nagisa cheer "Rei-chan!" as he said so. Though if Yuka noticed, she didn't let on.

"Really? Okay then," she smiled, and again Rei thought it beautiful, "Call me Yuka-chan then." And then there was a weird moment when neither of them used the names they were now allowed to use, and they instead continued packing away their things. Though that moment passed and Rei nodded. The air was a little static as Yuka still anticipated Rei trying out her name until she was ready to leave. "Uh, cool. I'll see you later then, Rei-kun," she said, being brave and addressing him first. She swung her backpack over her blazer-clad shoulder and gave a small wave.

* * *

Rei watched as Yuka scribbled in her notebook. She was frowning and yet her lips jutted out as if they were pouting. It was odd yet a little fascinating for Rei to see Yuka pull a completely new expression. She sighed when she was finished scribbling then turned to face Rei. Her expression was simply forlorn. "I can't do this!" she said pushing her work away and leaning her face on the desk.

"That's because you always fall asleep when the questions are being explained." Rei smiled as she poked her tongue at him from her place on the desk. "I'll help you figure out the methods if you want?" he offered.

"I'm a lost cause."

"What do you normally do for lunch?" he hinted.

She felt like replying, _eat lunch_ but reigned in the smartass (ha! rei-gned in... *snort*) and humoured him since he was offering to help her. So she said, "I eat lunch with a few friends on the grass field by the library. Why?"

"Would you like to have lunch together and go over these questions?" he asked her, comparing himself to a situational guy asking a girl on a date. The comparison left him a little nervous. It's not like I'm asking her on an actual date. If I was I would never use math as an activity. Maybe we'd go swimming... Rei's mind set about picturing Yuka in a swimsuit that matched her eyes, and he got more than a little nervous. He pushed his glasses up further.

Yuka usually found lunch to be pretty boring. Not because her friends were boring, but rather that the same things happened every day. They'd meet up in the same spot on the field, eat lunch, chat a little, then Yue and Shin would become all lovey-dovey and Yuka would put in her headphones for the remaining duration. A change would be quite welcome. She was sure Yue and Shin could cope by themselves well enough for a day anyway. She doubted they'd miss her brilliant commentary much.

"That sounds good," Yuka grinned. "Well, except for the math part..." She hesitated, thinking that sounded a little suggestive, which she didn't mean. All he was asking was to help her with math and she said that it sounded better without the math? It sounds like I'm flirting! Oh God. She actually wasn't flirting. She liked Rei but... she wasn't sure she liked him like that. She only knew him as the guy she worked with in math class. She didn't really know who he was, when she thought about it. "I mean...! I need to improve my grade but it's so boring. I'm expecting you to make it fun if I'm ever going to learn." Yep, brilliant commentary.

Yuka tried to ignore that her final statement might've come across as flirting again, thinking that she would only make it sound worse if she tried correcting herself. Her eyes flicked to Rei's open notebook to see neat writing. No scribbles. Damn. I bet he can't paint, though... she thought to cheer herself up.

"I eat lunch on the roof. We can meet there if you'd like?" Replied Rei, to his credit not commenting on her flustered response. She smiled and thought it best to settle with nodding for now.


	2. Chapter 2

Yuka had texted her friends that she was getting tutored during lunch.

_But I won't see you today! __o(╥__﹏╥__)o _Yue xx

_Good luck! Or rather... good luck to the tutor ;) _Shin.

With that done she headed up the million steps to get to the roof. Though when she got to the top there were only two people sat there, and neither were Rei. They glanced at her as the door banged open unceremoniously and she smiled sheepishly. The pair went back to unpacking their lunches. Yuka looked around wondering where to wait for Rei and then decided to sit on the floor so that she could unpack her lunch as well. She automatically glanced back at the pair once she was seated, and found that one of the guys was watching her again. She expected him to look away once she had caught him but he didn't. Which left her in an awkward predicament. The staring contest was a little unnerving but at the same time she wondered why _he was staring _so she stared back at him. Her eyes flicked to the other guy, who had just noticed what was happening, before she looked back to the staring guy.

Feeling a little braver, Yuka asked, "Can I help you?" She'd meant it to sound a little rude but it came out sounding genuine. Which irritated her. Why did she always respond so _nicely _to rude people. It just wasn't in her to get mean. Cocky and smartass was maybe in her reach, but not rude. Well... no, not _really._ But the boy just shrugged and bit into a forkful of food. Her eyes fell in annoyance and she leaned back against a wall. _I really don't want to learn maths this lunch time. _As if thinking about maths was enough to summon Rei, he appeared from the roof access. Yuka instinctively smiled and waited for him to notice her. She waved when he did. "Hey, Rei-kun," she said sweetly.

"Rei-kun?!" came an excited cry. "Has Rei-chan kept a secret relationship from us?!"

"Nagisa-!"

"Rei...chan...?" Yuka mumbled slowly, a grin forming on her lips from the girlish suffix. It did fit with his name, but it didn't quite fit with the Rei Yuka was used to. A short - in comparison to Rei - blonde guy bounced into view from behind Rei. He was cute and Yuka recognised him from her year, though they didn't share any classes together. Her eyes followed him as he bounded for her.

"Ehh! Rei-chan has such a pretty girlfriend," the boy said as he leaned over her. Yuka's grin widened at the hilarity though she was also blushing as she realised that the attractive stranger was complimenting her unabashedly. Said stranger half gasped, half exclaimed, "Cute!" as she did so. Yuka liked him already.

Rei seemed to catch up to speed and pulled the boy back, "Nagisa-kun! She's-!" Then he cleared his throat to compose himself, "Yuka-chan's not my girlfriend... I'm... tutoring her in math." He got quieter as he continued.

"So...boring!" Nagisa whined.

"I know, right?" Yuka spoke up.

Remembering she was there, Nagisa took her hand and pulled her up, saying, "Come sit with us. I don't want Rei-chan to have you all to himself!" As Yuka looked back and shrugged at Rei she noticed that he was blushing slightly. Although the situation was quite embarrassing, Yuka was enjoying herself. She was never normally complimented or made a fuss over, since her friendship group consisted of an existing couple. And Yuka liked this Nagisa already. She supposed that if Rei was friends with him then he might be more interesting than she'd thought. Then she realised they were sitting down with the only other two people on the roof. Her and the staring guy locked eyes again and her smile changed. She smiled politely as Nagisa announced, "This is Haruka-chan and Makoto-chan! We're all on the swim team together."

"Nice to meet you," said Yuka.

"Nice to meet you, too," echoed Makoto with an attractive smile. Yuka instantly liked him, much like she did with Nagisa. She suddenly felt like she needed a female friend who was single, like her. It wouldn't matter if she bragged to Yue about meeting three extremely attractive guys, since she was with Shin. Maybe she would tell her mother? She sat down where she was standing, which was next to Makoto, and slightly opposite Haruka. Rei sat down beside her and Nagisa next to Haruka. And thus was the circle they had created.

"Did you bring your math books?" Rei asked.

Yuka pouted slightly and nodded. Nagisa wailed again, "But maths is so boring! And Yuka-chan doesn't want to do it, right?" Nagisa looked at her and waited for her to sheepishly say, "Eh, right..." before grinning, "She'd rather ask us about our swim club!" He said it so proudly that the topic actually piqued her interest. More than maths, anyway.

"Oh. Um..." She trailed off. She was glad for the distraction from studying during lunch time but she didn't know much about their club. The other guys must have took her pause to mean she wasn't interested though as Haruka said, "She's not interested in that, either."

Yuka just frowned and asked, "How do you guys know what I like or not?" Her eyes had automatically found Haruka's, which held her gaze for a while until he shrugged and bit some ... mackerel from his fork. Dead-panning, Yuka said, "Actually I heard you guys were disqualified from the finals? ...That sounds interesting."

There was a pause between the group before Nagisa started laughing. Yuka noticed Makoto was grinning, too. Even Rei and Haruka were smirking slightly. Makoto rubbed the back of his neck as he said, "Rei swapped places with a swimmer from another academy and they saw it as cheating."

"But we came first!" Chimed Nagisa.

Rei shifted in his spot next to Yuka and she watched him adjust his glasses. "It was worth it, though. We had our reasons. And it was really quite beautiful to watch."

"So you didn't mind sitting out?" asked Yuka.

"Not at the time. I won't be offering to do it next time, though," Rei replied with a smile. Yuka nodded and took a bite of her lunch, glad that the tutoring lesson seemed to have been forgotten for now.

"I used to love swimming," Yuka stated. "I didn't swim competitively, though I guess there was always the desire to finish first." The boys watched her as she ate more of her lunch.

"Ehh! Yuka-chan loves swimming!" Nagisa grinned.

"I was training to be a lifeguard, actually," she explained. "I'd passed my rookie lifeguard exam and was certified, but I didn't take the course after that."

"How come?" asked Makoto. Yuka smiled at him and shrugged. It was after she'd received her certificate that her mum started feeling better, so she moved back to Japan and changed her mind about lifeguarding. Although that's what happened, Yuka wasn't sure why she'd changed her mind. So she forked more food in her mouth and said, "Dunno."

"We have swim practice later today if you'd like to watch us?" asked Rei.

Nagisa beamed, "Yuka-chan can be our pretty lifeguard in case we drown!"

Yuka laughed and held up her hands. "Wait, woah! Aren't you guys passed that stage? I doubt they'd let you enter swimming competitions if you couldn't swim!"

"You didn't see Rei when he first joined," said Makoto. "If he tries to swim anything other than butterfly he sinks."

Yuka snorted, however unattractive it was. "And here I thought he was good at everything." Rei blushed and Yuka snickered.

"But you are welcome to hang out with us later. Kou would probably like the company, too," Makoto offered.

"Kou? ... Matsuoka?"

"She's our manager," Makoto explained. Yuka nodded.

"Yeah, okay. If it's cool with everyone, I'll probably come by for a little. I haven't seen Gou in a while."

As Nagisa exclaimed happily, Yuka glanced at Haruka who had been quiet the whole time. He was watching her again. This time she just smiled at him and busied herself with packing away her lunch box.

As lunch ended Rei sighed and said, "Yuka-chan, we didn't look at a single question."

Yuka tried to suppress her smile. _Good_, she thought. "Guess I'll be struggling in maths tomorrow then, too."

* * *

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful as Yuka anticipated meeting Rei and his friends at the pool. She packed away her sketch book and art supplies as her last class of the day finished. She was proud of how her artwork was coming along, and was pleased that the teacher suggested that the class have their lesson outside next time. It was Summer after all.

Yuka walked to the pool in high spirits, removing her blazer when the sun was too hot on her back. She noticed that Haruka was the only one at the pool when she arrived, and that he was already in the pool. Yuka watched as Haruka cut through the water in record time, barely pausing at either end before he was darting off again. Yuka wasn't surprised that they came first in their competition if this was how they swam. "Wow," she murmured, leaving her backpack and blazer to the side then moving to the edge of the pool to watch Haruka. She stood like that for a while, though Haruka didn't seem to notice her. Yuka thought she was being a little creepy, watching him swim, but she was only doing what he'd been doing at lunchtime. Maybe staring at each other would soon be their _thing?_ She was distracted when a loud cry and a body came pelting towards her.

"Yuka-chaaaan!~~" Cried Nagisa happily as he collided with her in a hug from behind.

"AHH!" She screamed, being propelled forwards. Nagisa's impact pushed them both into the water. Yuka kicked to the surface, gasping as she came up before wriggling in Nagisa's hold. "Nagisa-san! What was that for?!" She was annoyed that her arms were held to her sides since Nagisa was still wrapped around her in a hug.

"Aw! I'm sorry Yuka-chan! I knew you could swim and thought it would be fun," he said, his grin turning sheepish and adorable. Yuka wriggled more and pushed herself out of his grip. She kicked to the edge and gripped the ridges, pushing her hair from her face as she did so.

"But _you _have a swimsuit! I was going to wear these clothes tomorrow!" She snapped, watching her white shirt cling to her body. "I need a towel," she grumbled.

"Here you go, Yuka-san!" Kou said as she hurried into the scene. She smiled prettily and extended a large towel to Yuka, who smiled in appreciation.

"Thank you, Kou-san," she said as she pushed herself up over the edge of the pool. Kou placed the towel over her shoulders and Yuka pulled it around herself tighter. Yuka looked up to see the rest of the guys were there now, too. "Don't you guys go running up to me, too," Yuka warned them. Rei and Makoto just shook there heads, slightly scared, which made Kou giggle. Yuka spun around when she heard Nagisa chuckling as well. "I just realised-!" She gasped, glaring at the blonde boy. "You would have ruined my bag if I hadn't have taken it off!" That's right! Her electronics would have been ruined. She had her phone in there, and her music, and-! Her sketch book would have been completely destroyed, and that had taken her more hours than she would like to admit. "Don't laugh! I would have never forgiven you!"

Nagisa swam up to where she stood and apologised. "Yuka-chan, I'm very sorry. I'm really glad you weren't wearing your backpack. I just thought it would be fun!" Yuka huffed then crumbled. She was never really mad for too long. She didn't mind that she had gotten wet too much. Actually, it was rather nice after being so hot before. And nothing important got wet. "It was really nice hugging Yuka-chan in the water!" Nagisa grinned finally.

"Yeah well next time wait till I'm out of my uniform!" Yuka scolded, then flushed slightly at the suggestiveness. Then Yuka noticed that Haruka hadn't stopped swimming back and fore for the whole duration of her being in and out of the pool.

Nagisa actually bobbed up and down in the water. "Does that mean Yuka-chan is going to join us swimming?"

Yuka considered it. She missed swimming. But wasn't this supposedly their swimming practice? "I assumed this pool was for swim club only," she said.

"Speaking of which," said Kou, "I was going to time you guys on your 100 metres today. You can help me time them if you'd like, Yuka-san?"

Yuka smiled but shook her head, "Thank you, but I should probably go home and dry off. My clothes are too clingy for my liking."

"There are spare clothes in the changing rooms," said Makoto. "I could take you there and you could change so that you don't walk home wet?"

"Really? That would be great," Yuka beamed. "Is that okay?"

Makoto smiled warmly, "Sure, it's no problem."

Kou called after them, "Don't take too long, Makoto-kun!" and she received a wave from said swimmer as they walked off towards the changing rooms. Rei watched them go thinking that he should have been the one to take her. He was pulled back to the pool-side when Kou instructed him to dive in and start warming up.


	3. Chapter 3

Makoto handed Yuka a blue and white sweatshirt and matching sweatpants. She was still wrapped in the towel Kou had given her which saved her from flashing Makoto, and any lingering students, her soaked through shirt and bra. She thanked him as she took the clothes, while looking for a place to change. "I'll wait outside," Makoto smiled.

Her clothes felt horrible as they peeled off her skin and they hit the floor with a wet smack. She really wanted a shower. _If I shower fast... _she thought, then put the towel over her body once more before entering the shower and riskily discarding her underwear and towel out of the water's reach. The water was nice as it washed away the chlorine smell from her hair and skin. She stood under it for a minute before realising that she was getting carried away. She shut the water off quickly and dried herself with the towel before redressing in her underwear. The clothes Makoto gave her were a little too big for her but she zipped up the sweatshirt and pushed up the sleeves. She quickly wrung out her school uniform and wrapped her clothes in the towel before heading out to find Makoto waiting for her.

"Sorry!" She said automatically. "I hope I wasn't too long."

"Of course not, don't worry," he grinned. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah thanks. Are these your club's uniforms or something?" Yuka had noticed 'IWATOBI' printed on the back of the sweatshirt and figured as much.

"You like it?" he chuckled. Yuka nodded. "Well we kind of got carried away and ordered way too many, so you're welcome to keep it if you'd like." Makoto looked at the girl and noticed how baggy the clothes looked on her. She was much shorter than him and the sleeves that had been bunched up were falling down. "Or we could see if there are any smaller sizes."

Yuka laughed and said, "Thank you Makoto-san, but I'll wash them and return them tomorrow. You boys might need to keep hold of them in case more girls are pushed into the pool." Makoto chuckled again and Yuka realised that she liked the sound.

They had almost reached the pool as they heard Kou shouting instructions and Nagisa whining. Yuka smiled sweetly at Makoto and thanked him for helping her. "That was really gentlemanly," she said, and Makoto blushed lightly. She noticed and tried to stop blushing herself by shouting, "Unlike Nagisa-san!" Said blonde turned and made a confused sound which was just amusing. Yuka grabbed her abandoned things, stuffing her blazer in her backpack, and carrying her wet clothes she bid the swim club goodbye. Rei and Kou stopped her before she left.

"Do you want to come back tomorrow, Yuka-san?" asked Rei, holding himself out of the water. The water dripped down his chest and Yuka wondered how long he had been hiding his abs...

"Yeah! My brother's coming down to race Rei-kun," said Kou expectantly, as if Yuka was to understand that this was something really exciting.

"Oh!... Sure," she said. "I think we have art outside tomorrow, so I can be here early."

"Haruka-kun will probably be here when you arrive, anyway," Makoto said, and Yuka didn't think that Haruka had stopped swimming for the entire time she had been there. _That must be why he's such an amazing swimmer. _Yuka nodded and said she'd see them tomorrow.

* * *

Yuka cycled home and instantly threw her wet clothes in the washing pile. "Hey Mum," she greeted as she walked through the living room and spotted her mum watching t.v. "Sorry I'm back a bit late. Do you need a hand with dinner?"

Her mum smiled from her place on the sofa and waved her daughter off. "No, no. I'm not bothering much with it anyhow. What were you doing?"

"I made a few new friends, I think. They're on the school's swim team, so I went to their practice after school."

Emiko smiled at her daughter, glad that she was making friends again. "I'm glad. That third-wheel business with your other friends must have been getting a little weird, eh?"

Emiko snickered as Yuka said, "I'm not a third-wheel, Mum!" and went upstairs to once again change her clothes.

* * *

Yue jealously gold-fished at Yuka. "You're hanging out with second years? _Sexy second years_?"

Yuka snickered, "I never said sexy. I said attractive." Yuka popped a fried dumpling in her mouth and muffled out, "Though leave it to you to call attractive older guys sexy."

They were sat in their usually lunchtime place, outside the library, though they had moved across slightly to hide under the tree's shade. It was hotter than it was yesterday, and Yuka had decided against wearing tights or socks so as to make the weather as bearable as she could without going against the uniform requirements. The weather was almost hot enough to make her wish for art class inside. Almost.

"But you didn't actually learn any maths?" asked Shin. His secretive smirk made Yuka furrow her brow. But Yue hadn't noticed.

"That's right! So you ditched us for nothing! Unforgivable..."

Yuka wondered what Shin was thinking as he continued giving her that weird look. It was almost laughable when he sipped his drink whilst keeping up his teasing expression. "...You know I hate maths," Yuka answered eventually.

Shin chuckled finally, "This Rei guy likes you. It's obvious."

Yuka blushed and laughed, "Whaaat?"

"Really?" Yue gasped. "Does he like you, Yuka-chan?"

"What? No!" She frowned. "Shin's messing around. He doesn't even know Rei-ku-san..."

Yue and Shin studied Yuka's widened eyes with mirth. "Rei-kun?!" They both laughed. Yuka tried shutting them up as they chanted about Rei and Yuka sitting in a tree. "We're friends!" Yuka tried to say but to no avail. "That's it!" She said as she stood. "No sexy boys for you, Yue-chan! You're stuck with Shin-kun 'cos I'm not letting you meet my new friends." She grabbed her things and walked off. Yuka was only messing around, she wasn't seriously mad at her friends. Their teasing just embarrassingly loud. Yuka automatically walked toward the rooftop.


	4. Chapter 4

By the time Yuka met up with the guys from the swim club lunch was almost finished. The day seemed to be going by really quickly and soon Yuka found herself outside again for her art class. And although the teacher instructed that they could try sketching things that the students could see around them, Yuka preferred to draw from her own imagination.

Yuka held her sketch book away from her at arms length to look over her finished work. At first glance it looked like a detailed sketch of a pretty woman's face, though she was turned to the side with her eyes looking off-page. As you looked closer though you could see that Yuka had sketched flowers and birds into the face and hair of the woman, blending her into the background of flowers and geometric shapes. The last thing you would notice were the light pencilled deer antlers, which on first glance merely looked like part of the woman's hair, and part of the geometric background.

Yuka was proud of her work, but she had been staring at the page for too long and kept finding imperfections with it. So she leaned back on the grass and closed her eyes. She relished that the warmth of the day had died down some since lunchtime, she felt a coolness in the air which she was sure promised a cool evening.

Yuka loved art class because it was so freeing. Whatever you could see or imagine you could try and capture on a page. Yuka often found that what she created looked better on the page than it had in her mind. What was dark and vague in her imagination was intricate and colourful when set in oil or acrylic. She was also allowed to listen to her music when she got on with her work, which readily helped her enjoyment of the subject. Yuka's eyes flew open when a dark shadow blocked her from the sun. She quickly took off her headphones when she saw her teacher standing over her.

"Finished, Miss Otsuka?" she asked with a smile.

Yuka sat up to look more respectful and nodded, "Yes I think so, Sensei."

Her teacher looked at her work and smiled. "Lovely..." Yuka watched as she found the hidden antlers and looked over at the page herself, instantly finding things she disliked or thought she could improve. She'd only spent the hour on it. It was nowhere near finished by Yuka's standards. She'd just gotten bored of focusing on it so much. "If you'd like we could put your sketchbook as a piece in the class exhibition?"

Yuka blinked. "Really?"

"Of course. Only if you were okay with that?" Yuka nodded, grinning. "Good," her teacher returned her grin. "I know you prefer your paintings but personally, I like when you sketch." And with that she turned to leave. "Oh, but don't forget to write up your theory!"

Yuka's sketchbook contained almost everything she'd worked on during the year. A few double pages had a million things worked into them, hours of little intricate figures and linkings worked into them. One of the few works that wasn't included in her sketchbook was the portrait she had done of her mother. It was of her mother's younger self, in her long fur coat and pretty crystal jewellery. She looked very pretty and fancy until you noticed the small holes tattering her coat, and the moth on her sleeve, which at first looks like a butterfly. Her mother also has two small fae-like figures perching on her shoulders. One with a moth over her lips and the other with a flower over her lips. Yuka had wanted to capture her mother's illness and beauty at the same time. She'd painted it in a week using oil on canvas, though the paint took forever to dry. Yuka would have to ask her teacher if she could have her canvas put in the exhibition too. That was the one she wanted her mother to see.

Yuka quickly scribbled a made up theory for her day's work, saying how the geometric symbols were based on the school buildings and how the girl was based on someone she could see in her class, seeing as how that was the day's assignment, and packed her things away. She was looking forward to watching Rei race. She found that watching her friends compete was always exciting. Her cousin used to compete in cycling and she always enjoyed cheering him on.

As soon as Yuka entered the pool area she discarded her backpack and blazer in the spot she had yesterday. _Just in case_, she thought. Not putting it past Nagisa to try and hug tackle her again.

She had expected to see Haruka ignoring her and swimming in the pool but she saw someone else in his place. This guy had really cool burgundy hair, like Kou's, and he pulled it off _extremely_ well. Not that Kou didn't pull it off... she did. It was just that Kou didn't have amazing muscles and an attractive masculine body. Well... maybe she could? And those muscles belonged to a very attractive face. _Which is looking right at you, Yuka! Eek! _

Yuka resisted the urge to squeak but flushed instead. "Uh... hi," she said lamely. She propped herself down at the edge of the pool, hoping this guy wanted a friendly chat. _Or flirt. But I'm pretty sure I suck at flirting...__  
_

"Who are you?" the guy asked brashly.

"Otsuka Yuka. I'm a friend of Rei's and... I met the rest of the guys yesterday, too." She waited for him to introduce himself back but he just floated and bobbed in the water. "Who are you?"

His eyes kept glancing to the gate as he spoke, like he was waiting for the rest to turn up. "Matsuoka Rin."

"Matsuoka!" She grinned, forcing his eyes back to her. "You're Gou-san's brother," she explained.

"I know," he said, as if she was an idiot.

Yuka shook her head, "No, I mean... So you're the one who's racing Rei-kun today, huh?" Rin raised his eyebrow at her, still looking at her as if he thought she were an idiot. Yuka assumed that the movement signalled a "what of it" sort of attitude, when really Rin was acknowledging the honorifics. This girl had already said that she was a friend of Rei's but the shift from formally describing his sister was noticeable. Rin found himself wondering if this girl was more than just a friend to Rei. Then he scowled slightly to himself as he wondered why he cared.

"Do you go to this school, then?" asked Yuka. She was never really one for noticing other people, and it made sense for them to attend the same school, Rin and Gou. Though Yuka felt like she had asked a stupid question again when he scowled.

"No."

Feeling a little disdained by his closed attitude, Yuka decided to stop with the questions. Gou's brother didn't really seem to want to converse with her, and she couldn't really think of anything to stimulate the conversation to be in his interest so she settled with a shrug. The purple-hued boy just watched her as she toed off her shoes, set them aside before plunging her feet into the cool water. Yuka smiled, stretching out her toes under water and enjoying the small refreshment she felt from feeling hot all day.

Yuka was building up the buoyancy to ask Rin how he knew Rei and the others when they entered the pool. "Rin-chan! Yuka-chan!" Nagisa grinned as he bounced over to the two. From the corner of her eye Yuka noticed how Rin edged away from where he'd previously stood, near her, all the while the short blonde flew towards her.


	5. Chapter 5

Yuka grinned evilly as the blonde boy flew right into the pool. Yuka had guessed that Nagisa would try and push her into the pool again, though this time she ducked out of his reach at the last second, and the boy tumbled into the water beside her. "AH, Yuka-Chaaaaan-" he cried as he resurfaced, causing Yuka to snicker unsympathetically. Though her face fell when she saw the blonde moving to grab her. She squealed and quickly pulled herself away from the poolside and away from the vengeful boy.

"Nice try," she said as she stuck her tongue out. Nagisa's eyes glinted and he pulled himself from the pool and crawled up the cement towards her. "Nagisa-san, don't!" She shrieked, running in the opposite direction. Whilst the two were playing around, the others had gathered and were greeting Rin. Yuka found Rei and sprinted for him, grabbing hold of him and hiding behind his tall form. "Protect me, Rei-kun!" Her wide-eyed human shield stammered in reply though played his part as her protector.

They messed around like this for a while before Rin rolled his eyes. "Are we actually going to race at all today, or did I just come all this way to watch your childish game?"

Nagisa was the first to apologise. "Sorry Rin-chan! Yuka-chan started it!" Even though it wasn't a very mature one. Yuka gasped in return and said, "Did not!" which restarted the small resistance between the two.

At the third "Did too!" Rin bellowed, "I don't care! Just shut up!" Yuka huffed but quickly found a spot in the sun to sit in which was next to Makoto. He smiled at her as she sat down and her face lit up once more. She was having a good day, and her playful mood might have been annoying to some but she was enjoying herself too much to really care. She looked back to where Rin had been to catch him watching her still.

"What?" she asked expectantly. Makoto's curious eyes followed the occurrence and she almost giggled out of sheer amusement. Rin's eyes narrowed into a glare while Yuka poked her tongue out at him. Her and Makoto watched as Rin shook his head and pulled himself out of the water.

Yuka's attention was turned to Haruka who remarked, "You seem happy today."

She snorted, "Do I normally seem unhappy?"

"You're normally content. Today though something's brighter about you." Yuka stared at him. It surprised her that he'd noticed so much about her. She hadn't really spoken to Haruka as of yet. His observation touched her. She grinned and stretched out her legs in front of her.

"Yeah. I guess I am happy." Glancing up she saw Rei and Rin adjusting their goggles and smirking at one another. She turned back to Makoto and Haruka, asking, "What about you guys? How are you?" Yuka noticed something flash in Haruka and automatically asked, "...What?"

Makoto chuckled. "He's fine. He's just trying to resist diving into the water."

"Oh right," she said. "...Resist like how I try and resist eating a whole packet of cookies?"

Haruka's lips upturned slightly as he said, "Something like that."

The trio quietened as they heard Gou's voice as she counted down. She'd been setting rules and discussing how the pair were to race and how many laps they were going to swim. Yuka remembered Makoto telling her how Rei can only swim butterfly, which made sense as to why Gou set butterfly as their only racing style. Yuka wondered how fast Rei could swim butterfly, but realised she only had to wait a few seconds before she found out. "Three, two, one - " and Gou blew a whistle. The boys dove into the water with a wet thwack.

Nagisa and Gou were bouncing around at the side of the pool cheering both boys on while Haruka, Makoto and Yuka watched from their seats in the sun. When Rin's head first flew up in his first butterfly arch, he was already a third of the way down the lane. _He must have a very powerful dive._

Rei was doing his best to match the redhead's power but was falling short. Yuka built up the volume and cheered, "Come on Rei-kun!" Her shout had made her feel even more energetic, and she all but bounced where she sat. "They're both so good!" She exclaimed, her exuberance showing.

"Rei's read almost every book on swimming, I think. He used to focus on calculations and theory at first, but since trying to swim freely he's been able to keep improving." Yuka nodded as Makoto finished, grinning as Rei turned underwater and cut through the pool.

"Rin attends Samezuka Academy," continued Haruka, and there was something in his voice that made Yuka look back at him. "He attended a swimming school in Australia as well. He was training to become an Olympic swimmer."

Yuka's eyes widened as she watched the attractive redhead. "Wow!" She grinned and cheered, "Come on, Matsuouka-san!"

As they neared the end of their race, Yuka had risen and had joined Gou and Nagisa in jumping up and down. Rin had won, which didn't surprise Yuka if he was really training to be an Olympian. As his hand slapped the cement, his friends cheered and helped him out of the pool. Yuka went to congratulate Rei as well. She was leaning down to greet him when he made it to her side. "Well done, Rei-kun!" she grinned cheerily.

Rei's purple eyes widened underneath his goggles and he said, "But, I lost."

"But you swam really well! I was told that Matsuoka-san has been swimming a lot longer than you. You tried your hardest and that's what matters!" Yuka's eyes almost sparkled as she spoke, and Rei blushed as he thanked her and pushed himself out of the pool. He pulled off his goggles and tousled his hair. Before he darted away from Yuka to find his glasses she said, "Rei-kun looks handsome without glasses." Rei's already flushed cheeks burned crimson. Rei stammered another _domo arigato _then sprinted away. Yuka couldn't stop her giggle as she took in his beet red face.

From behind her came a loud splash as Haruka dived into the pool. "He wouldn't wait any longer," sighed Makoto with a smile.


	6. Chapter 6

"Haru-chaaaan! _Please _get out of the pool?" begged Nagisa sadly.

It had been two hours and Haruka didn't look like he needed a break from the water any time soon.

"Haru, we want to do something else now," tried Makoto.

"Haruka-kun!" Gou yelled, "You and your rippling muscles need to get out of the pool. Now!"

"Yo, Haru-kun, your friends are bored of watching you swim now," commented Rin, feeling immensely bored himself. Rin would have normally left about an hour ago, preferring to show up, _show up_ and then leave. Rin frowned. He was bored so why was he still hanging around? He was even planning on following the group to wherever they were headed next. Rin's eyes trailed towards the blonde girl talking to Rei, smiling prettily at him.

"What do you want to do now, Yuka-chan?" Rei asked her.

"Um, I dunno," she shrugged. "It's still pretty warm. Do you think any ice cream parlours are still open?"

"There are a couple ice cream stalls near the beach shore," replied Rei, touching his red glasses. The girl seemed to mull over his words for a moment before a wide grin slid across her lips. Yuka turned to the group, her blue eyes wide and suddenly enthusiastic.

"Would you guys want to go for ice cream?" Yuka voiced, louder so that even Haruka could hear. Rin rolled his eyes. _What would be the point of running every morning if he was going to waste the effort eating junk food?_ Was what Rin thought before Yuka's long-lashed eyes met his own crimson gaze and he suddenly wanted to join her for ice cream. He quickly looked away.

"Yes!" exclaimed Gou. Her eyes were almost sparkling with excitement. "So long as I can get green tea flavour!"

"Green tea ice cream with extra cream," Yuka drooled.

Gou gasped and linked arms with Yuka asking, "Why weren't we friends sooner, Yuka-chan?" Before adding, "Tell me, do you like muscles?"

* * *

The consensus was that they each bought a different flavour and tried some of everyone's. Yuka and Gou's favourite was the green tea scoop, as expected, though Yuka opted for the raspberry so that Gou could have her favourite and that everyone would have something different. There was an odd instance when Haruka asked the vendor if she had mackerel flavoured ice cream. Both Yuka and the woman laughed until they noticed Haruka's unjoking straight face. Yuka laughed louder while the woman apologised. He had settled with a pineapple flavoured scoop in the end.

"Kou-chan, you have such a good taste in food... wait, _get it_?" snorted Yuka at her own joke.

"Smooth," laughed Gou. The girls had paired off during the walk to the beach for ice cream. The guys were left to follow behind them, listening to their ramblings about different foods, with the occasional mention of men's muscles thrown in as afterthought by Gou. Nagisa tried joining in at various parts but was more often than not shooed away by the females. Nagisa would trail back to the others and sulkily ask why they wouldn't include him, only for Rei to respond with something like, "Because you'll eat anything." During this, however, Haruka seemed lost in his own world as he ogled the ocean as they walked the beach.

It was getting a little chilly as the sky darkened and the night grew closer. So the group considered calling it a day. Gou mentioned that she had called her mother to let her know that she wasn't getting home til late, but that she should probably still go home soon. Yuka frowned as she realised she'd forgotten to do the same. "I didn't think of that. Damn. I hope my mum isn't too worried," she mumbled. But when Yuka checked her phone, there were no new messages. She still felt guilty but knew that if her mum was really worried then she would call her phone.

The others agreed that it was probably late enough that they should go their respective ways. Haruka and Makoto said they were walking together since they were practically neighbours, and Nagisa and Gou were splitting off to join Haruka as well, as their houses were in the same general direction. That left Yuka, Rin and Rei to announce which way they had to go. Nagisa let on that Rei's house was also near the rest of theirs so he should walk with them, but he hesitated. He looked to Yuka as if asking her where she lived. The others waited, too.

"You haven't got your bike," Haruka blurted suddenly, making everyone stare at him. They realised that he was speaking to Yuka, and turned to her in kind. The girl grinned sheepishly.

"Uh, yeah... I kind of live a mile or so away, so..." she started before Rei cut her off.

"I'll walk with you," he said.

Yuka tried to ignore the little jump-start her heart did as the others looked between the two of them. The forcefulness of his offer was a little surprising but she pinned it down to flattering concern. She awkwardly scratched at her cheek as she said, "I'm sorry but I kind of live in the opposite direction to you guys." She was going to say that she hated being unnecessary trouble for others when she was cut off again. This time by Rin.

"I'll walk you," he offered, though it sounded almost as forceful as when Rei had said it. Rin's crimson-tinted orbs could only hold her watery gaze for a few seconds before he had to glance away. Though his eyes always found their way back to hers. He happened to be watching her as her eyebrows lifted and her eyes widened. Yuka blinked and her mouth opened but she stayed quiet. At the unspoken question he continued, "Samezuka Academy is that way, anyway," said Rin with a jab of his thumb. "It only makes sense that we walk together."

At this she asked, "Really?" though she was smiling. "Thank you, Matsuouka-san!"

Rei didn't think about it as he said, "I can walk you, too." Red eyes hit purple eyes as Rin and Rei gave each other a challenging look. This was something only Haruka and Makoto seemed to notice as the friends glanced at one another.

"But Rei-chan," reasoned Nagisa, "You'll be walking in the wrong direction!"

Yuka agreed with the blonde boy, thanking Rei but pointing out the counter-productiveness of the act. She paused and added, "It's sweet of you, but I'll be fine with Matsuoka."

If any of them gave her a look for dropping Rin's honorific then Yuka didn't notice because she was averting their eyes. She didn't feel ready to drop 'kun' onto his name, but the use of 'san' would highlight how she didn't really know Rin well enough to count him as an actual friend. So she settled with just using his name. She was trusting him and hoped that he would soon count her as his friend. Though she wasn't sure that she could count their friendship as moving forward just because she'd become friends with his sister, or because he was offering to walk with her. She also didn't want to catch Rei's eyes particularly because of how strangely he was suddenly acting. Though, in all honesty, Yuka was just getting tired and didn't want to feel guilty about making Rei go out of his way for her. And Yuka couldn't help but remember Shin's words to her at lunch. _This Rei guy likes you. It's obvious._

So the groups made it on their ways after saying goodbye to one another. Gou gave both Yuka and Rin a hug goodbye, thanking them for a fun evening. Yuka grinned as she turned to Rin as they walked away saying, "Kou-chan's really kind. I bet it's great having her as a sister."

Rin shrugged. "I guess."

"It's turned out to be a really fun day," Yuka continued. Rin glanced at her but didn't reply. Yuka was unperturbed. "Well done on winning the race earlier, by the way! I can't remember seeing anyone swim the butterfly that fast..."

"Thanks," he replied, biting back a smile. For some reason he liked that he had impressed her.

"...Though I suppose you have to be good to swim in Samezuka..." she carried on, unable to help herself.

The two carried on walking together through the darkness. They had only just about made it away from the beach. Yuka looked up at Rin's composed face and sighed lightly. He was really not giving her much to work with. She'd kind of forgotten about how he was when she'd met him. They'd been surrounded by their friends ever since, so there had been constant chatter provided. Now that it was just the two of them again she was back to one word answers. She supposed that she should just be glad of the company at all.

"Thanks for walking with me, by the way," she smiled. The sight of her smiling at him made his stomach flip uncomfortably. He scowled in reaction. He wasn't used to girls making him react like this. Even though he was outwardly scowling, he said, "You're welcome," which really confused her. She frowned, trying to figure him out. _What if he's thought of me as annoying this whole time? _She really didn't want that to be the case. Suddenly their proximity on their darkened walk seemed uncomfortable.

Yuka slowed a fraction so that she walked behind him a little more. "I left my bicycle locked up at the front gates of the school," Yuka started. Rin noticed her trailing behind. "If we picked it up I'd be able to get home by myself the rest of the way." She realised that he had let her catch up to him while she spoke. And that now he was looking at her fully for the first time since they started walking.

"We'll get your bike. But I'm still walking you home," he said.

* * *

**Author: Hello! A quick thank you to everyone who is supporting this story! I hope you like my OC and general story so far, and I hope the plot isn't too slow or generic. I really haven't thought through the entire story so far, and what started as another Rin romance is getting moulded into more of a Rei romance, thanks to the lovely reviews I've received thanking me for writing Rei as a love interest. It mainly started happening because I was annoyed at the number of writers who typecast Rei as boring, mean, and generally unlovable. But I mean he's admirable in the series for being a quick learner - if you consider how long it actually does take to learn to swim, and all of the books he reads, and how hard he works at everything. And he is hootttt. As they all are... Um, anyway. The point? ...The point! This will probably turn out to be a Rei x Oc x Rin kind of thing because I love Rin, too. And, yeah I can see Yuka as liking him. And again thanks for the support guys :3  
Oh, and the writing might be persuaded by the reviews, as they already have! (It's hard to ignore feedback, as most writers will know!)  
...(Final note: Apologies if the UK spelling is annoying. I spell how I spell, and the computer tries to change it to American spelling so who knows... it might slip in between. Sozzzzzz) **


	7. Chapter 7

"Thanks for offering to walk me home last night," smiled Yuka. "I would have taken my bike with us last night but I didn't want to constantly push it around..." she whispered.

"Don't mention it," Rei whispered back. The pair were in their maths class, and Rei was letting Yuka look at his notebook again. She really needed to understand how to do these questions herself. She dreaded the day they were given a test. She'd have to ask Rei to tutor her again, only this time she'd force herself to concentrate. "Next time I'll make sure I'm the one walking you home, though," said Rei softly.

Yuka tried ignoring the little flip her stomach did, instead concentrating on how little sense that would make, seeing as he lives in the opposite direction. Though when Yuka peeked up from her handwriting and caught Rei's consuming violet eyes staring at her intently, she wasn't able to say much other than a meek, "Thanks," before she buried her face into her books again. _He likes you, _Yuka couldn't help but think. Suddenly maths became very interesting as Yuka tried to hide her blush from the boy sat next to her. _The boy who I now know is hiding amazing muscles underneath that shirt. _She couldn't stop it when an image of Rei pulling himself out of the swimming pool flashed across her mind.

The class room was suddenly overwhelmingly hot for Yuka, and she fidgeted in her seat and tried to cool her burning skin. _Stop it, he's your friend, Yuka! _Though that didn't stop the images.

She'd managed to follow most of what the teacher had said that lesson, though when she compared the answer she'd written to the answer on Rei's page she frowned. _I can't help it if I'm being distracted today_, she thought. With that her eyes trailed to Rei's arm. Though he was wearing a white shirt, there were slight indications of the taut muscles beneath. Yuka watched the pen in Rei's hand write down more numbers before it paused and Rei looked at her. Or that's what she tried to make it look like as she covered that she'd really just been staring at his hidden biceps.

Yuka flashed him a shy smile and hoped she hadn't been caught. She tried ignoring Rei for the rest of the lesson, which was tricky since she was copying his answers, and concluded that it would be very difficult concentrating if Rei tutored her.

* * *

Yuka had calmed down by lunch time, and when she spotted Yue and Shin she stormed over to them. She threw down her backpack, ignoring their cheery greetings, and glowered at Shin. "You!" She shouted. "Why did you tell me that Rei-kun _likes _me? It's all I can think about now!"

Shin's confused expression melted away into a knowing smirk. "Was I right, then?"

Yuka pouted and flopped down next to her bag, whining, "I don't even know!" Her friends snickered at her and she sighed. "I don't know how to act around him any more. And I definitely don't know how _I _feel about him..."

Yuka knew her friends wouldn't have much advice for her but it felt nice to unload her feelings onto them. Shin's eyes shined with mirth and the promise of teasing yet to come, though Yue's were slightly better, in that they possessed the light of understanding. "Don't worry about it," Yue said eventually. "These things tend to happen on their own. You just need to keep calm and go about it like normal."

Yuka huffed and mumbled through her sandwich, "If I can..."

* * *

"No Yuka-chan?" asked Makoto when he saw Rei at lunchtime. He knew that the pair had maths together before lunch on a Friday and assumed that the small blonde would be joining them. Or rather, he had hoped she would. Her pretty smile was rather infectious.

"Not today," Rei replied, tucking his long legs underneath himself.

"Ehh! No Yuka-chan?" echoed Nagisa aghast.

"Not today," repeated Rei.

Gou made a cry of disappointment as well, holding up the magazine she'd been lovingly cradling. "But I brought _Muscles Monthly_! I was going to show her this month's top ten triceps," she said sadly.

The Iwatobi swim club and their captain were sharing lunch. They did this occasionally when someone packed too much lunch, or when they just felt like sharing. Though Haruka was the only one who enjoyed eating the supplied mackerel and pineapple.

Conversation seemed to still centre around the missing blonde as Makoto asked, "Do you think Yuka-chan would like to come with us to the beach tomorrow?"

"Beach?" Rei frowned. This was the first he had heard of such an outing.

"Mm-hmm!" Mumbled Gou, hastily chewing her food so that she could speak. "We were planning it on the walk here. We thought it'd be good to get you guys practising your endurance again. Not as intense as last time, don't worry, Rei-kun. Just like, swimming back and fore against the waves and stuff."

"And we could see Yuka-chan in a bikini!" grins Nagisa.

"Nagisa-kun!" Rei snaps, though he is physically reddening. Makoto coughs and is also trying not to imagine his friend in clothing akin to underwear. Haruka sends Makoto a sly look as he does so. Makoto bypasses his friend's look and chides, "Nagisa-kun, we haven't even asked Yuka-chan yet!" Nagisa shrugs saying that he knows she will, and then the conversation is turned to other topics. Though the excitement of the beach trip makes it hard for them to not prepare.

"Shall I text her now and ask if she will come?" asks Gou.

The boys fall over simultaneously. All but Haru. Makoto recovers first, asking, "You've had Yuka-chan's number this whole time?"

"I want Yuka-chan's number! Why didn't she trust me with it? Kou, give me her number!" Nagisa bounces, fully recovered.

* * *

Yuka received five texts during that lunchtime. She wasn't sure she'd ever received so many. At least, at the same time.

The first was from Gou.

_Yuka-chan! We're all going 2 the beach tomorrow! Come with us. Pleaaaaaase? xx _Kou.

_Hey, Yuka-chan. We thought it'd best that you have all of our numbers. So we're all texting you. _Rei.

_Lookin forward 2 2morrow! o(≧∇≦o) xx _Nagisa.

_We missed u at lunch, Yuka! Come to beach tomorrow? :) _Makoto.

Haruka's was by far the simplest though. _This is my number.  
_

Yuka's eyebrows raised. "They_ all _texted me?"

"Who texted you?" asked Shin.

"Rei and his friends from the swim team."

"Why are they texting you?" Yue asked, leaning forward to see Yuka's phone with interest.

"They're inviting me to the beach tomorrow."

"Sounds fun," Shin nodded approvingly.

Yue gasped, "I have a sexy swimsuit you can wear, to impress Rei!"

"Wh-what?!" Yuka stammered, face flushing. "I don't want to impress him!"

Shin grinned and elbowed his friend, "Sure you do. Go for it!"

Yuka hid her face with her hands and groaned. She was never one to dress protectively. She didn't even know how to flirt with a guy. Wearing something 'sexy' would make Rei think that she liked him too, anyway. Well... maybe she did? She wasn't sure. Maybe the beach wasn't such a good idea. "Will you guys come with me?" She asked, peeking out from behind her palms.

"I guess we could," said Shin, hand to his chin.

Yue gasped again, "No, we have that double date with my sister! She really likes this guy and I told her we'd support her!" Yuka frowned sadly. Yue had mentioned how enamoured her younger sister was with a boy in her class. Yue would no doubt dress her and prepare her for her date like the proud sister she was. Yuka hoped that Yue would keep the 'sexy' clothes away from her sister, though. That would be an awkward double date, otherwise.

"But that's not til the afternoon. You guys could come for a bit in the morning?" Yuka asked hopefully.

Again Shin shrugged, "Maybe?" But Yue shook her head saying that Yuka should go and have fun, without thinking too much into Rei's affections. _If he actually does like me, and this isn't all in my head..._

"But I'll come round your house after school and lend you the swimsuit!" She finished with a grin.

When the trio were leaving to go back to their afternoon classes Shin whispered to Yuka, "Wear it or not. It's not slutty, don't worry," with a wink.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author: Hehe! Thank you so much for the support guys! This story is really fun to write. I never really get time to write much though, which is why only one chapter comes out now and then and why it's normally so short. Thanks for sticking with it though :) I only have a few ideas of what's to come and it's pretty much from feedback I've received that I've moulded the story. I'm pretty sure you can all guess who's getting the girl, but there's going to be a lot of confusion on Yuka's part throughout, and a lot of yearning from the guys, too. It should be fun hopefully :)**

* * *

Yuka finished the breakfast she'd made for her mum and herself and cleared away the plates hurriedly. "Ah! I'm running late," she noticed, spotting the time in the corner of the television. Her mother shooed her away from the sink, telling her not to worry.

"You just make sure that you're ready, leave the dishes for me to do," Her mother said with a smile. Yuka eyed the dishes before hugging her mother and rushing to her bedroom to grab the last few things she needed. She rushed past Jun who barked at her from her position on the bed. Yuka grabbed a few extra clips from her dresser in case the water washed them out. She knew it was boring to stick to a certain style but she had a look that worked for her. She'd tie it back now and then with a simple ponytail but other than that it was short enough that she didn't need to bother with her hair much.

She turned to the dog on her bed who was watching her movements and panting happily. The white and tan shiba jumped off the bed excitedly when Yuka cooed, "Walk, Jun!" and brandished the red dog lead. Yuka petted her friend as she attached the lead to her collar and let Jun lead her out of the room. "Okay mum, we're going now!" Yuka called, popping her head in the door to catch her mother sitting in front of the television once again. Her mother looked up and told her to have fun. Yuka noticed the breakfast plates still sitting in the sink waiting to be washed, but didn't have time to wash them herself.

Very quickly, Yuka looked herself over as she passed by the hallway mirror. She'd thrown on a long-sleeved top, which was white so that she didn't overheat in the sun, that had an off-the-shoulder sort of thing going on, so she could see the halter tie of the swimsuit sweeping behind her neck. Her shorts were denim and her sandals were yellow. Overall, the outfit looked a bit miss-matched but Yuka was never really one for fashion. She left Yue to worry about that. Yuka had noticed that Gou was quite a girly girl as well, loving cute things like ribbons and pretty hair ties. Yuka on the other hand just made sure her look was practical. Her shorts were short but not as short as her school uniform skirts. Yuka doubted anything could be more revealing than those, except maybe the swimsuit she was hiding. That was one of the annoying things about hot weather - of which there are many - which is that it's too hot to wear tights. Yuka missed the safety net between her underwear and other people during school. She was doubting that she'd actually feel brave enough to strip down to her swimsuit in front of the guys...

Yuka threw her backpack over her back - she loved backpacks, owning a black bag for school and a yellow bag for everything else, and led Jun to her locked up bicycle. "You're excited, aren't you?" Yuka grinned, seeing her dog's eagerness to run alongside her bike. "Come on, then. We're already running late."

* * *

By the time Yuka arrived at the beach the rest of the group were already there. Yuka padlocked her bicycle to a nearby post and breathed out. She was already sweating from just her journey. The day was hot as hell and she was looking forward to swimming in the sea. She was sure Jun would enjoy a run around in the water, too. "Hey, guys!" She called as she sauntered onto the beach towards them. They spotted her and called various greetings in return.

Even Rin had tagged along for the day, it seemed. Yuka looked horrified at his outfit, though. _How can anyone wear black in this heat?_ She thought.

"Yuka-chan! You look so pretty," complimented Gou as they hugged. Yuka thanked her and returned the compliment. Gou wore a red tank top that subtly complimented her hair and shorts similar to Yuka's own. Yuka thought that the girl could wear a potato sack and still look good.

"Hey, Yuka-chan! I didn't know you had a dog?" said Makoto as he bent down to lovingly stroke Jun. Jun was soaking up the attention greedily and before long he was pushing his nose into Makoto's hand in a cat-like manner.

"Yeah, I wanted to bring him because I've been neglecting him lately. But are dogs allowed on this beach? We've been here before but I didn't let him run around... Do you think it's okay?" Yuka asked sadly. She'd made a conscious effort to look for signs banning animals but couldn't see any.

"I run past this beach every morning, and there are sometimes dogs. I wouldn't worry about it," said Rin in a bored manner. Yuka caught his eye before Rin looked off, as if he hadn't said anything at all.

"Oh, good," Yuka smiled. "Is that alright with you guys? If I let her join us, I mean..."

"Of course! I love dogs, Yuka-chan!" said Nagisa. Jun's attention was transferred to the blonde boy as he tickled the dog behind his ears. Yuka thought of how starved for attention her dog must have been, because he never reacted this well to so many people fussing over him. But then again Jun was outside, at the beach. What dog wouldn't be happy?

And then Yuka noticed the two people who weren't there. "Hey, where's Haruka and Rei-kun?"

"One guess where Haruka is," laughed Gou.

Yuka frowned at her, perplexed, before Makoto chuckled, "Haru's swimming already. Rei-chan's walked to the store to buy sunscreen, since we all forgot to bring some."

Yuka's wide eyes turned sympathetic as she swung her bag around her body and unzipped it, pulling out the small yellow bottle. "Oh. I grabbed some before I left. He didn't need to go buy some."

"Don't worry, he won't take too long," smiled Gou. Though Yuka didn't trust the mirth that sparkled in her eyes.

"Well I'm going to set camp where you all have, I think," said Yuka, running away from Gou's prying eyes. Yuka plopped her bag down, pulling out Jun's water bowl, filling it ready for her. She also pulled out her beach towel, the frisbee she'd packed (for both the guys and her dog, if they didn't mind, of course...), and her sunglasses. That was pretty much all there was enough space in her bag for, otherwise she would have brought art supplies to sketch with if she'd gotten bored. Though she doubted that she would. Yuka unclipped Jun's lead and packed it into her empty bag while Jun fled towards the sea. His curled tail bobbed in the water as he paddled short distances to and from the shore.

"Would you like a drink, Yuka-chan?" asked Makoto kindly. "My mother made a hamper of drinks and snacks for us." Yuka commented on how thoughtful both he and his mother were, and took a fizzy orange drink from Makoto with a grin.

"So what's the plan for you guys, today?" asked Yuka as she popped open the drink.

"Kou-chan's starting us off by making us swim the length of the shore ten times. For endurance, supposedly. Though, I'm sure Haru's already surpassed that by now..." answered Makoto. Yuka followed his gaze to find a mop of black hair bobbing in the distance. She supposed Haruka had some deep-rooted love for swimming. Yuka could understand it, herself. Swimming always had a way of calming her anxieties. Though, it had been a good three years since she had last swam properly. She didn't count being pushed into the high school swimming pool by Nagisa, or the hot springs she had visited a year ago with Yue. It would be nice to join Haruka in swimming out to sea. Makoto noticed her staring intently at the water and smiled. "Are you joining us for a swim today, Yuka-chan?"

Makoto instantly found himself comparing her eyes to Haru's as she set her sparkling orbs back on him. They were a much lighter blue than Haru's, as whilst Haru's seemed to mirror the shimmering depths the ocean, Yuka's reminded him of blues you could only catch radiating through clouds. Makoto then realised just how attractive he found blue eyes to be.

Yuka flashed Makoto a smile and nodded. "Yeah, I will. It's too nice of a day to pass up a swim in the sea. I don't mind playing with Jun for a while, though, while you guys get on with your training."

"You never know," said Rei, appearing from nowhere. "Yuka-chan might be able to keep up with us. You're welcome to train with us, if you want?" He wore a light t-shirt that looked somewhere between nude and cream with light orange board shorts. In his hand was an unlabelled bag which Yuka assumed contained the sunscreen he went in search of.

Yuka sent him an affronted look as she teased, "You don't think I can keep up with you, Rei-kun?"

His lips curled upward and he subconsciously touched his glasses frame. "You're welcome to try," he jested.

"Sounds like fun," she laughed.


	9. Chapter 9

Man, it was a hot day. Rin rolled off the hair-tie that was around his wrist and tied up his burgundy hair. _That... actually hasn't helped at all. _He sighed, looking to the glistening water before him that seemed to beckon him and promise him relief. On a day like today, Rin was actually surprised that there weren't more people at the beach. It was perfect weather for swimming. Though he'd need to apply sunscreen if he didn't want to burn. Haruka was an idiot for not waiting to swim until he'd applied the stuff on himself. Though Rin wouldn't put it past Haru to be an anomaly. _Sharks get sunburnt while dolphins don't_, he thought.

Rin pulled his black vest over his head and enjoyed the subtle breeze over his exposed skin. Rin paused as something that felt like hope clenched him. _Hope for what?_ He wondered. Rin's eyes trailed over to where Yuka sat with Makoto and Rei. His stomach dropped, and it wasn't because she hadn't been watching him strip like he'd wanted. Her and Rei looked like they were flirting with each other. Though she just seemed to wear a mischievous expression, Rei definitely seemed to be advancing on her. Rin couldn't stop the resentment flooding through him at that moment. He stormed over to the trio and demanded to have the sunscreen. Though they all looked a little taken aback, he had successfully broken up the pair's teasing.

Rei handed him the carrier bag and Rin flicked his gaze back to Yuka before getting to work on lotioning up. He was definitely coming across as weird to her though he couldn't help it. He had enjoyed walking her home the other night, though he wasn't sure he was interested in her as anything more than just a crush. Though, for him to even _have _a crush was a bit unusual. Wasn't he saying just the other week how girlfriends were nothing but distractions? _That was before this girl..._ his mind explained.

"So, how about it then," said Makoto, bringing the attention away from Rin's brash arrival. "Fancy a race, Yuka-chan?"

Though Yuka was slightly entranced by the way Rin rubbed oily circles into his chest and stomach muscles. She really didn't want to be caught watching him though so she regretfully ignored his well-formed torso. "...Hmm?" She sounded, whipping her head to the olive haired boy. "Oh, yeah I guess..." though her reply trailed off as she anticipated the response her swimsuit might get. She didn't want to look as if she was trying too hard to impress them. And Rin's muscles were making her feel a little self-conscious. She knew she was slim - that wasn't what she was worried about. If she wanted to impress these gorgeous boys - not that she was admitting that she wanted to, she was just... hypothesising... - then what did she ideally need to look like?

Her legs were toned from cycling every day but she wasn't the amplest in the bust department. Gou's were even bigger than hers. Luckily, the swimsuit Yue had lent her had a halter neck, otherwise Yuka wasn't sure she would have looked passable in it. Then Yuka became more than anxious about undressing when Makoto's six-foot form towered over her, shirtless and perfectly muscled as well. Her girly insides were utter chaos. It was something akin to dread which now had her afraid to de-robe.

"Put on sunscreen before you swim," Rin advised. Though his tone suggested that he would not accept otherwise.

_Oh, GOD. I didn't think about _lathering up_ in front of them, too! _Yuka cringed, face flushing, though she pulled out the bottle she'd brought herself as a sort of compliance. "Is Kou-chan swimming with us, too?" She asked, suddenly realising that being the only girl in the group who was swimming might also be an issue.

Rei was the one to respond. _When had he taken his shirt off, too?! _"Kou prefers to scold us from the sidelines." _So, that's a no, then? _Makoto had begun lathering himself in the sunscreen that Rin had used. Rei politely asked, "May I use some of your sunscreen, Yuka-chan?" Yuka nodded and handed it to him, trying not to watch as he, too, lathered up. _I swear if any of them ask me to help them with their backs I'm going to faint. _It seemed like Rei had become a mind-reader when he hesitantly asked, "Sorry, Yuka-chan, can you help me reach this spot on my back?" _Oh, God! _she inwardly cried.

Though she was saved by Rin, who snapped, "You can do it yourself!"

Yuka thought then how this might be an excusable delay for why she wasn't changing yet, and suddenly blurted, "I'll help you," after having completely missed the looks the boys were throwing one another. Rei had to stop himself from shooting a smug look to the burgundy haired boy in victory. Instead, he smiled sweetly at Yuka and turned to let her reach his back. Yuka prepared herself to intimately rub Rei's muscled back by joking, "Yeah, you weren't good at this at all. You really needed my help." Though she needed an intake of air to steady her breath. His back was soft but firm, and Yuka found the few light freckles he had endearing. When she was finished Rei looked at her gratefully and asked if she needed any help applying hers.

Yuka flushed and quickly batted her hand at him. "No! No, I'll manage." She considered just running into the water and stripping as she dove in so that she could hide herself but knew she would burn. Her light hair and skin meant that she was no match for the UV rays. _It's not like I'll be the only girl in a swimsuit at the beach... _she reasoned with herself. There were other girls playing at the beach, though their swimsuits weren't particularly eye-grabbing. I mean, one girl's might have been but she had eye-grabbing assets so...

_Be brave. _Yuka grabbed the sunscreen and pulled her top over her head. She then pulled down her shorts and quickly began smothering the lotion over herself, all the while ignoring the boys around her. Her face burned but she snuck a peek in front of her as she finished up. All of their faces were equally red, and Makoto looked like he was ready to die. She would have giggled if she'd felt a little more confident. Instead, and without a word, Yuka sprinted towards the cooling blue waters, rushing past Jun who barked and hastily joined in the chase for concealment.

* * *

Makoto was the first to speak after Yuka had sprinted away from them, three pairs of eyes following her as she ran across the sand. He had coughed and meekly laughed, "Who knew that she would be wearing _that _under her clothes." Rin and Rei cast each other a look before their senses of competitiveness and protectiveness returned.

Rei cleared his throat before speaking, too. "It's a hot day." He then ran after her.

Rin was the only one who had yet to recover from shock. Okay, he had thought she was pretty, even cute. But he'd never seen a girl look like _that _before. She looked amazing. Her swimsuit was white - he was able to notice - and looked more like a decorative bikini than an actual one-piece. The top and bottom parts of the swimsuit were joined together by a sliver of white material that striped over her stomach, hiding her belly button. The back and sides of her swimsuit pulled round her by only thin straps of white. The whole thing tied behind her neck in a pretty bow. She looked sexy, Rin grasped.

He was the last to run after her, needing to cool his burning skin in the sea as well.


	10. Chapter 10

Yuka dived straight under water as she reached the sea, adrenaline pumping in her veins. Now that she was hiding in the water, she actually found the whole ordeal quite thrilling. She kicked up to the surface and found that she was still able to stand on her feet without immersing her face. With a small giggle she squished her feet around in the water-logged sand beneath her, enjoying the feeling.

The water was a refreshing break from the harsh sun rays. It soothed her heated skin and carried her weighty troubles, leaving her feeling pleasantly light as she floated herself on the water's surface. She was proud of herself for building the courage to enter the water. Jun woofed and splashed nearby but Yuka was happily ignoring the world around her and resting her eyes while the water carried her. Behind her eyelids the world was yellow and orange. The sun was bright and shone through her closed eyelids. It quickly warmed her skin, the momentary relief she received as the water lapped around her was her idea of heaven.

But it was disturbed when a strong pair of hands pushed her under the water.

Yuka flailed and pushed against her attacker. She heard Nagisa laughing and assumed that it was him who had dunked her. She screeched and shoved the blonde boy, attempting to get revenge by pushing him under water but he was deceptively stronger than he looked. Her eyes flashed with mirth as she struck the water and splashed torrents toward Nagisa's face. "Hey!" he sputtered but continued to laugh. Yuka threw a finger in front of Nagisa's face and jabbed at his forehead saying, "I still hadn't forgiven you for the time you pushed me in the pool! Do it again and you'd better have something amazing to make it up to me!" She warned.

Nagisa threw his hands up, "I will, I will!" he grinned. He considered dunking her yet again in that moment, but thought he could resist until he'd thought of something to cheer her up after. He knew she was only pretending to be mad but he wanted to play along. Besides, he had other ways of winding her up. "So which one of us are you trying to impress with your swimsuit?" he asked bluntly, but leaned in as if the pair were sharing a secret. He said, "I hope it's me! But Yuka-chan didn't need to-"

"You idiot! I'm not trying to impress _any_ one!" She squealed, attacking the boy with onslaughts of water. Yuka reddened. She hoped that none of them actually thought that was what she was trying to do. But somewhat more than that she actually hoped that it was working. Though who she wanted to impress was still up for debate.

At that moment Makoto and Rei joined them in the water. "Ready for a race, Yuka-chan?" the green eyed boy asked.

She shrugged, "Now or never, I guess. Are we swimming freestyle?"

"I can only swim butterfly," answered Rei. "But I'll be happy for you to swim whatever's most natural."

"That sounds good to me, too," Makoto nodded.

"Are we racing Yuka-chan?" asked Nagisa, hopping excitedly in the water. "I'll swim breaststroke!"

"Oh, wait. I don't have a pair of goggles," Yuka noticed. They all had a pair around their neck except for her. "Do you think Matsuoka-kun will lend me his pair?" She wondered. She noticed him standing at the edge of the water, staring at the waves that engulfed his feet and ran up the sand before retreating back into the next wave. He didn't look as if he was going to participate in their planned race. And if she was honest, she'd be a little nervous racing Rin after having watched his race with Rei. The idea of racing any of the other guys didn't feel so serious. It was just a bit of fun. But when Yuka thought of Rin swimming, she concluded that Rin swam to win. And that took the fun out of racing, for her. Without needing a response from the guys she said, "I'll go ask him," and waded her way toward him.

It was when he noticed her walking towards him that her stomach tied up in knots. She tried to subtly pull her swimsuit around her body properly, adjusting it just in case it clung to her too much or had moved about inappropriately. The subtlety was probably questionable since Yuka caught Rin's eyes as they quickly flicked to her mostly uncovered figure. Quickening her strides she sort of hopped the rest of the way to him and went straight to the point. "Sorry, Matsuoka-kun, but would you mind if I borrowed your swimming goggles for a little while?" She asked sweetly.

He eyed her for a moment. "Why mine?" he asked.

She sucked in her bottom lip before saying, "Well, Rei-kun, Nagisa, Makoto and I are about to race and, uh, they all have goggles and I don't. And Haruka-san is already swimming, well... he's been swimming for a while but... would you mind at all?" He didn't mind. He was just slightly impressed that she felt like she could race the Iwatobi team. Although she wasn't racing Haruka or himself. They were arguably the best of the group, he thought, cocky or not.

"I don't mind," he said. He relished the sight of her smile for a moment before he pulled the blue tinted goggles off and handed them to her and wished her luck. She beamed and thanked him then danced back to the others.

She needed to adjust them a little, only pulling the straps a little tighter around her head until they felt secure. "Ready!" she called, hearing the pop in her shoulder as she pulled her arms and stretched. They had called Gou over to time them down, and she blew a whistle to start them off.

She hadn't properly swam for three years, but even still the technique rushed back to her. The water resisted her and welcomed her at the same time. She pulled herself through oncoming waves with the steady windmill of her arms and kicked with as much strength as she could muster. Her breathing came quickly with the exhilaration she felt from the race, and from the somewhat forgotten adeptness. Her heartbeat flooded out any other sounds that could be heard, but she was able to see Nagisa pulling ahead of her from the corner of her goggles. She struggled to swim any faster than she was already managing, however. She clumsily slowed to a finish when she realised that she had finished last.

Her breathing was a little shallow as she sadly accepted her defeat. "Who won?" she asked.

"Makoto-kun did! Nagisa-kun was a close second," cheered Gou happily. "Rei-kun finished shortly before you did, Yuka-chan."

"Oh?" Yuka sounded, happy that she hadn't lost by a landslide, at the very least.

"You're a good swimmer, Yuka-chan!" Makoto complimented.

"Your form was beautiful," Rei threw in.

Yuka laughed lightly and shied away, "What are you guys complimenting me for? You won, Makoto-kun, congratulations! It was just fun swimming with you, all."

And then Gou made a sound of glee. "I know!" she exclaimed. "What if Yuka-chan joins the swim club?"

"...Huh?" she blanched.

"YES!" Nagisa cheered.

It was then that she noticed Haruka had appeared. "The water does accept her," he mulled conclusively. Yuka looked at them quizzically.

"What would I do as part of the swim club?"

"Swim!" Nagisa suggested unhelpfully.

Rei's stare pierced her as he said, "You used to lifeguard, you could save us if we drown."

"I _trained _to be a lifeguard. I didn't actually save anyone, you know..." Yuka huffed. "But I'll think about it."

Nagisa's head crept in between Rei and Yuka, and with an evil smile he said, "Rei-chan only wants Yuka-chan to join so that she will wear her swimsuit more."

Rei's mouth dropped in mortification before he became as red as a tomato. "Nagisa-kun! That is not true! Although Yuka-chan definitely looks beautiful in her swimsuit, I am no pervert and my wanting her to be a part of the swim club is purely because she is our friend and because she is a great swimmer and-..."

Yuka sweat-dropped as Rei babbled nervously. She made a sound of embarrassment and waved her hands around saying that she still needed to think about it. She then laughed meekly, rubbing the back of her wet hair she said, "Thank you for calling me beautiful though, Rei-kun."


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning Rin woke up early for his daily run. His previous day at the beach had certainly been eventful but he had neglected his training. Something had held him back from swimming with the guys and it bothered him. He'd just have to run for a while longer than normal, he decided.

The day was just as hot as it had been the day before, and so Rin had borrowed Nitori's sunscreen to protect him from the morning rays. He'd thrown on a simple charcoal vest top and his Samezuka jogging bottoms before kicking on his shoes and heading out of his dorm. He'd tied his hair up and stuffed his ipod into his pocket, selecting his work-out playlist before breaking into an even run.

It was Sunday so he had some time to himself before he would have to hit the books and cram for an upcoming test. Now that he was captain of the Samezuka swim team he felt like he had less and less time to himself. It probably wasn't a wise choice for him to slack off for the whole of yesterday. _It was ... fun, though._ He found that he'd always have a good time around the goofs in the Iwatobi swim team. And there was something exciting about the blonde girl who'd started hanging around with them. _Yuka_. Though, she probably didn't know it herself it was obvious that all of the other guys really liked her. His sister couldn't stop talking about her, either. _  
_

When Kou had started talking to him about Yuka he groaned and pretended to not care. This normally was the case whenever Kou wanted to talk about her friends. _Especially _when she wanted to try hooking her brother up with one of them. So this time he acted as he usually did - preoccupying himself with something and ignoring her. Though he found himself only pretending to not listen when she gushed about her latest friend. _Yuka loves muscles, too! Isn't that amazing? _she had blabbed. His sister had been enthused about the idea of him and Yuka dating and, like usual, had offered to set up her brother with her friend. This all happened after he had walked Yuka home, and Kou couldn't wait to phone him up and ask what had happened. Rin had responded to all of his sister's questions as if she was an idiot, telling her to grow up and the like. His chest did a weird throb at the thought of being set up with the blonde, however. He had snarled down the phone, threatening his sister telling her that she'd _better not, _which was only a slightly more pissed off response than he normally gave. She'd submitted with a, "Jeesh! Okay, okay... but remember what I've said, yeah? ...Show off your muscles if you can!" And with that she hung up on him with a giggle, retreating before he could yell at her further.

At the beach, he didn't want his sister to further get the impression that the two of them would be good together. So he'd tried to ignore both Yuka and Kou for the majority of the day. But Yuka's swimsuit ...

Rin shook his head with a sigh and changed the song on his ipod. Running was always good for Rin as it helped him clear his head. He had other problems to worry about, besides worrying about girls. _She probably wouldn't like me like that, anyway._

* * *

Yuka had caught the sun, and the swimsuit she'd worn had left weird white lines across her body. At least when she wore clothes the only real noticeable line was where the halter neck had tied.

It was again an unbearably hot day, Yuka discovered, so she dressed in a strappy army-green vest top, denim shorts and sandals. When the heat from outside hit her, she even clipped up the back of her hair to keep it off her neck. She was headed in the direction of Samezuka Academy, to the large superstore a few streets away. It was on her way there that she spotted a familiar burgundy haired boy running towards her. He slowed as his wide eyes returned her gaze, and he pulled out his earphones to greet her. She walked the rest of the way to him with a grin and a small wave. "Matsuoka!" She called.

He looked pretty stunned to see her which was weird. _He knows I live around here, why's he so shocked to see me? _She didn't know that Rin had just been thinking about her a few moments before. He was trying to erase the thoughts he'd just been having about her so that he could act like normal. He pushed out a smile and returned the greeting. "Wh-what are you doing today?"

"I'm going food shopping," she said with a cute smile. "We're running out of ingredients and I wanted to bake something sweet." She looked Rin over as she waited for a response. He looked good, as usual, though he seemed to be suffering from the heat. He'd clearly been running for a while as he had a few damp patches under his arms and neck, though they weren't extremely obvious due to the colour of his dark vest. He looked like he needed a break, if Yuka was to decide. "I was going to grab a cold drink, as well. Like a milkshake or something. Do you want to grab one with me?" she asked.

She'd tried to not make it sound like a date - because how nerve-racking would _that_ be! - but the tops of her ears still warmed, regardless. By the way Rin's eyebrows rose as well, she wondered if he'd thought the same. _He's clearly busy, Yuka! Besides you can't just say hello to a guy and in the next second ask them on a date! ... It's not supposed to be a date! I was being _polite!

It had only been a second of silence as Rin mulled it over, but Yuka's thoughts had made her nervous so she blurted, "Though if you're busy I get it. Sorry, I shouldn't have assumed that you'd have time. I didn't even ask you what you are doing today," she bit the side of her lip as she smiled nervously. "...What are you doing today?"

Rin's tongue wetted his own lips as he shrugged. A cold drink sounded really good, actually. Running in this heat was sure making him thirsty. "Not much," he played down, "Just, you know... running."

He calmed himself down by letting a small silence take over, while Yuka nodded - wondering if he wanted to be left alone - and Rin played with the ipod in his pocket - wondering if he should blow her off or give in to temptation. Finally he looked at her - _really _looked at her, and cocked his head, "Yeah, go on then."

"Huh?" she furrowed her brows.

Rin chuckled, "Yeah, let's go get a drink."

* * *

_Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, Godddd. Be cool, Yuka. _

The pair were awkwardly sat together, Yuka sipping her milkshake and Rin with a smoothie. Yuka was trying to ignore the fact that their situation very much resembled a date, preoccupying herself by stirring her straw around in her drink. She was aware that the pressure was on her to make the outing entertaining, since she had invited him along. She cleared her throat quietly before asking, "So, what's it like at Samezuka Academy?"

"Yeah I've just been made captain of the swim team, actually," he shrugged. "It's alright I suppose."

"Captain?! That's amazing, Matsuoka-san!"

"You can call me Rin you know," he said, hips lips twitching up in a smile before he took a slurp of his drink. "Can I call you Yuka?"

"Sure!" She grinned, "Everyone else does."

_I wish they didn't_, Rin suddenly thought. The jealous and overprotective nature of his thought almost had him choking on his drink. What Yuka said next actually _did _make him cough down thick fruit drink.

"It's really funny that we've gone out with each other two days in a row, now." Yuka laughed. She stopped when Rin gasped for air, quickly asking if he was all right. He wheezed that he was fine and Yuka frowned, wondering if she had said something inappropriate. Her eyes flew wide open and she backtracked, "I meant hung out with. I'm not considering this as a date, or anything!" She cried.

Rin recovered and awkwardly scratched at the back of his head with a weak smile, "Yeah, I know. Don't worry, it's not a date."

"I know," she echoed nervously. "It'd be a pretty bad date if it was..." she joked.

She'd managed to lighten the mood as Rin smiled and said, "Heh, that'd probably be my fault, anyway. I've never been good around girls."

Yuka bit her tongue, stopping herself from embarrassing herself more by telling him that he wasn't as bad as he thought he was. Instead she hid herself in her milkshake.

The two fell into a somewhat comfortable silence, at least until they shared a look and Yuka felt a blush creeping up her neck. They sipped their drinks and Rin wondered if he should ask her out on a real date. _The worst that will happen is she'll say no_, he told himself. He prepared himself by breathing in deeply, then said, "Yuka..." But was cut off by a loud redhead bursting in between them.

"SO CUTE!" The intruder yelled in Yuka's face, startling her almost out of her seat. She gave a small scream at the surprise but the redhead carried on unperturbed. "Matsuoka-senpai never told me he had such a cute girlfriend!" He grieved, dramatically. "Why are you always hiding away your enchanting babes?!"

Rin looked mortified. His face changed from unbelieving to furious in only a second, as he grabbed the boy by his collar and pulled him off of the blonde girl. "Mikoshiba, you idiot! What are you doing here?!"

The amber-eyed boy blinked and pointed back at Yuka, stating plainly, "Interrupting your date."

Rin seethed and shook the clueless boy. "No! Not _what are you doing_, why are you here in the first place?!" he reiterated.

"Oh. Um, I'm getting a vanilla shake...?" the boy answered as if he wasn't entirely sure that was true. He glanced back at Yuka before adding quietly, "...And scouting for girls."

Rin threw the boy aside with a groan. With his hand slapped to his forehead Rin grumbled, "Momotarou, you are such an idiot."

Yuka meekly said, "Rin-san's not my boyfriend."

"Why would you tell him that?" asked Rin incredulously before groaning again.

In a flash, Momotarou was beside Yuka with her hands in his, reciting his entire life to her. The boy actually looked like he was sparkling. "My name is Mikoshiba Momotarou! I am a recent member of Matsuouka Rin's swim team! My favourite hobby is hunting for stag beetles. My favourite milkshake flavour is vanilla-! Ow, ow, ow, ow-!"

"Alright, alright. Leave her alone," said Rin sternly as he pulled him away from the blonde for the second time. "When you can actually act normal in front of a girl is when I'll let you talk to one."

Yuka felt like she'd disappeared from reality and had entered some crazy t.v. show as she sat and stared at the two boys. It was only when Rin sighed and smiled at her that she regained consciousness. "Sorry about that," he grinned.

"Uh?" Yuka shook her head slightly, and returned the smile, "Oh, ha! Yeah that's fine. Uh, nice to meet you?" She said, directing the last part to the redhead nurturing his aches. Lights seemed to twinkle around the boy again as he dazed at the girl.

"Cute," he mumbled in his stupefied state.

"Oh. Er... thank you?" Yuka replied. She looked worriedly at the boy before addressing Rin. "Is he all right?" Rin just shrugged, having adjusted to the boy's weird antics. Then Yuka realised that she'd been sitting with Rin for a while, and still needed to go food shopping for her and her mum. That was when she hastily stood up. "Oh, I gotta go! I still need to go shopping."

Rin frowned but nodded. "Yeah, I've still got to do a couple things today."

Yuka grabbed up her things and pushed in her chair, "Thanks for this, I had fun."

Rin's eyes closed as he beamed at her, "Any time." The sight caught Yuka's breath for a moment before she said goodbye to the two boys and they waved her out of the cafe. Rin sighed as she left, thinking of the studying that awaited him at his dorm, and the overzealous redhead he was left alone with.

"I think I love her," was all that Momotarou could muster as his goo-goo eyes stared at where Yuka had been. Rin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.


	12. Chapter 12

"Yuka-chan! These are really yummy!" Makoto beamed, his eyes smiling kindly.

Nagisa took a bite of his second cupcake and muffled, "Mmm! Deshhz is ssho good!" Yuka giggled at the blonde boy, who had icing covering his nose some how.

Yuka shrugged, "For some reason I can bake really well. I just can't cook anything other than sweets..."

"That's strange," commented Gou as she finished off her own cupcake. "I'm not complaining though. I'm going to invite you to join the swim club all the time, Yuka-chan, just so I can eat more of your cakes!"

Yuka had baked up a storm after she had gone food shopping the day before. She'd brought two lunch-boxes full of cakes in to school to give to her friends. She told the guys that they were a thank you for letting her join the swim club. Really it was a gesture to show her appreciation of them for being so welcoming. She loved Yue and Shin but sometimes being a third wheel was a bit too much. She was just happy to be accepted by another group of friends.

"This is so beautifully made," whispered Rei as his eyes sparkled. He turned the cupcake in his hand, marvelling at the icing before he carefully took a bite. His eyes closed and he looked like he was about to faint. Yuka had to ask if he was okay. Suddenly his eyes flew open and he grabbed Yuka's hand. "This is perfection!" he breathed.

Yuka giggled nervously, trying to pull her fingers from his grip, her face flushing as it always seemed to do lately. "Th-Thank you, Rei-kun!" she said happily. Rei's intense gaze released Yuka and refocused on the baked sweet in front of him. He'd read a few books on baking and had decided on the 'perfect' cupcake recipe. He had tried it out and was satisfied enough. But he had never tasted a better cake than the one Yuka made. He pushed up his glasses before taking another bite.

"Where's your lunch?" asked Haruka.

"Hm?" Yuka sounded, still a little flustered to respond to Haruka's sudden question. "Oh, right. Well, I didn't have enough space in my backpack with my books and all the cakes, so..."

"That's alright, Yuka-chan! I'll share with you today," smiled Gou. "You did say you liked ginger pork, right?"

"Of course!" She giggled. "Thank you, Kou-chan. I'll repay you with green tea ice cream some time!"

"I'll settle with another one of your cupcakes, actually," she swayed excitedly. She scooped another cupcake from the lunchbox when Yuka told them all to help themselves. Nagisa and Rei both took another instantly, too.

"Help yourself to rice balls, Yuka-chan. I'm filling myself on your beautiful cupcakes, anyhow," said Rei before stuffing more of the cupcake in his mouth.

"That's sweet of you. Thank you, Rei-kun. Kou-chan."

Haruka suddenly dropped the lid of his lunch box in Yuka's lap. There were slices of mackerel topped with pineapple on top. Yuka stared at it bemused.

"It's good for you," the blue eyed boy told her, assessing her for a moment before digging into his own once more.

"O-Oh! Thank you, too, Haru!" She smiled. The boy glanced up at her at hearing the nickname but decided he didn't mind it. Makoto used it enough, and she hadn't used a suffix. So he smiled back and nodded.

After a while of conversation, Nagisa asked Yuka, "So are you coming to swim practice after school, Yuka-chan?" His eyes twinkled as he thought of his surprise for her. She probably didn't even remember threatening him and telling him he'd better have something nice if he pushed her in the water again, so he'd just have to remind her of it. But Yuka shook her head anyway, so it would have to wait.

"I'm sorry, not tonight. I told Yue-chan that she could come over my house, so we're going to walk together after school."

"That sounds nice," said Makoto.

"Yeah we're probably going to just watch a film and stay in, I think. Sorry, guys," she said.

"No problem! I'm just going to drill the guys hard tonight anyway," said Gou. Yuka's eyebrows raised as her mind flew to euphemisms and all sorts but she ignored it. Makoto shot her a worried glance though, and Yuka giggled. Gou ignored them and leaned towards Yuka conspiringly. "Do you girls want to borrow _Muscles Monthly_?" she whispered.

Yuka grinned, "No, thanks. I'll save that for when you and me have a girl's night, Kou-chan." Gou squealed and happily agreed.

* * *

The swim club were waiting for Rei to arrive for practice but he never turned up.

"Did he say anything at lunch?" asked Makoto, worriedly.

"No, nothing! He just went on about Yuka's cupcakes," Kou replied. Nagisa randomly burst into laughter.

"Ah! He won't pick up his phone." Makoto was stressing out.

"Maybe Yuka was lying," Haruka said unexpectedly. All of the guys turned to him with sounds of confusion. "Maybe she isn't having Yue over to her house," Haruka elaborated.

Makoto was the first to ask "...What do you mean, Haru?"

Then Nagisa exclaimed, "What if Yuka-chan and Rei-chan have sneaked away on a date?!"

"No..." Gou shook her head. "Rei-chan's not that sneaky... He would have let something slip. He's a terrible liar." The others agreed.

"...But... still. Where would Rei-chan be?" asked Nagisa.

"With Yuka-chan," Haruka insisted.

The group fell into silence as they thought over the possibility. They would confront the pair tomorrow, and demand to know what was going on - if anything.

* * *

"No way!" Yue screeched.

"What? Nothing happened, you don't need to be so loud about it!"

"You went on a date?!" Shrieked Yue, even louder.

"SShh! I did not!" Yuka scowled.

The pair were in Yuka's bedroom, on top of dozens of cushions, with plates of snacks around them. Yuka had had to shut Jun out of her room because he kept trying to eat their food when the girls were distracted. There was a random bark from the other side of the door every now and then, as Jun demanded to be let back in. It was his room, too, after all. Even though he could have the pick of the house, he liked Yuka's room best.

"Tell me about him, have you talked about him before?"

Yuka sighed and gave in. "He's Kou-chan's brother, and he goes to Samezuka Academy. Actually, he's the captain of the swim club there."

"Wow! ... So he must be lean..?" Yue smirked.

Yuka felt the air around her warm slightly. "Um, actually he's pretty muscled. He looks good."

Her friend make a high pitched sound for the thousandth time. "Yuka-chan likes him! ... So wait, I thought you liked the one with glasses, Rei?"

Yuka groaned. "Shut up, please?" Then she mumbled, "I'm not sure."

"It is _not _like you to have boy troubles. Normally, you don't like anyone..." Yue mused thoughtfully. Then she shrugged unhelpfully. "Guess you should've just stuck with me and Shin, after all."

"You're never actually helpful, are you," said Yuka with a glare at her friend.

She grinned. "My mum says I am!"


	13. Chapter 13

Rei had avoided the group's attempts to find out why he'd skipped swim practice. He'd babbled about having something urgent that he had needed to see to and ran away. So they confronted Yuka.

"Were you and Rei-chan on a date together?!" Nagisa demanded.

"Wh-what?!" Yuka exclaimed. She looked to the others for explanation but they just watched her expectantly. "No! I've never even been on a date."

"What, really?" replied Nagisa.

"Yes, really!" Yuka had a feeling she should have kept that embarrassing detail to herself. She didn't count the day with Rin, even though Yue evidently seemed to.

Gou seemed to have gotten sidetracked from their original topic. "Oh, Yuka-chan! I need to set you up with someone! What about Rei-chan, then huh? O-Ooh! Or my brother? You'd be so good for him!" She cried.

Yuka's eyes were as wide as saucers and her jaw had hit the floor. "WHAT?!" She squeaked. Had Gou really just said that? ...Did she know something? _Am I so obvious? Oh, God. I really am terrible at this sort of thing. _Yuka thought she was having a mild panic attack.

"Your face is really red," Haruka commented.

Yuka waved her hands around, "No, Kou-chan! I'm fine, really." She looked at the others and could tell that they were all finding her very interesting right now. Yuka had never felt so flushed. Normally she liked that Haruka noticed things about her, and she liked his bluntness but she really didn't need him commenting on her embarrassment.

"So if Yuka-chan wasn't with Rei-chan, then where was he yesterday?" asked Makoto.

"Did Rei-kun skip practice or something?" frowned Yuka. "Why don't you ask him what he was doing?"

"We have. But he's being suspiciously evasive..." said Gou.

"I said that he and you might have been dating in secret," Haruka added. "Which would have fit with the suspiciousness."

"W-Well, we're not..." said Yuka. "Are you guys having swim practice tonight?"

"Yeah, hopefully Rei-chan will be there this time," Gou replied.

* * *

"Okay, so I was wrong about you and Rei sneaking off. You're here and he's still not," Haruka commented. It had been half an hour into practice and Rei had yet to turn up. Yuka had grabbed a seat and was sketching in her art book. She looked up as Haruka said this.

"I told you we weren't dating!"

"You guys totally should, though," Gou deadpanned. Yuka rolled her eyes. Gou was becoming like Yue and Shin, encouraging her to go after boys. _I don't see you with a boyfriend... _Yuka thought. _Gou's so pretty. I wonder if she just doesn't want to date anyone._

Suddenly Nagisa sounded very upset. "Do you think he's quitting the swim team?"

Yuka smiled sweetly at him. "Not a chance!"

"Yuka's right," said Haruka. "I don't think he would."

"How can you guys be sure, though?"

Yuka shrugged at Nagisa. "Rei-kun's a good guy."

Makoto said seriously, "I won't allow him to quit." Yuka's eyes trailed to Makoto to find him looking sterner than she'd ever seen him. He looked empowered by his loyalty and by his position as captain.

Yuka sweatdropped. "Uh, it's okay, Makoto-kun. Really."

"Let's follow him!" said Gou.

Nagisa cheered, "Yes! We need to know!"

"I guess we have no choice..." Makoto agreed.

"Wait! That's distrustful. Shouldn't we leave Rei-kun to whatever it is that's important to him?" argued Yuka.

"He's important to us, though!" replied Nagisa. "We need to do this, Yuka-chan."

Yuka sighed. "Okay. But only if he misses another swim practice. Then it's not just coincidence."

* * *

Rei _had _missed the next practice. Even more, he had acted extremely suspiciously when Yuka had brought it up during maths class. Which is why she was ready to find out what he was up to.

"Okay, let's go," said Gou. They stayed within seeing distance of Rei but always hid behind obstacles. It was clumsy at times, with all five of them hiding behind the same obstruction. They'd followed him onto the train easily enough, though, hiding in the next compartment. Other passengers gave them odd looks but they got on and off the train successfully. Rei was heading towards a large building, and Yuka had guessed where he was going when they had gotten off the train. It was her neighbourhood.

Makoto looked up at the building in surprise. "This is...-"

"Samezuka Academy," Nagisa finished.

"...What's he sneaking here for?" wondered Yuka.

"Come on, let's go inside. Stay quiet," said Gou. They hid in the room adjacent to the Samezuka swimming pool, and peered through the windows. They saw two figures in the middle of the water.

"It's him!" said Nagisa.

"And my brother?" mused Gou.

"Is Rin-chan the one Rei-chan was dating...?" murmured Nagisa.

Yuka giggled lightly. "No! Look. Rin's teaching Rei-kun to swim!" They all noticed Rin supporting Rei and instructing him before Rei balanced himself and moved backwards across the water in a slow, awkward backstroke. They all gasped excitedly.

Nagisa sounded teary when he next spoke. "Rei-chan was planning to surprise us with this." Everyone smiled happily. "He's swimming breaststroke!" Nagisa marvelled, which made Yuka laugh. Rei had really amazed them.

* * *

"You did it!" cheered Rin, slapping his newest student on the back. "I'm impressed by how far your swimming has come."

Rei's purple eyes shined kindly as he said, "Thank you for meeting me here every night. I wouldn't have been able to swim more than one style if it wasn't for you. So, thank you."

Rin shrugged. "It's after our team's practice so I don't mind. Plus... I really owe you," he said lowly.

"Huh?"

Rin smiled, "Nothing! ... So, you really want to surprise all of them, right?"

Rei's eyes hardened. "Right."

Rin eyed him knowingly. He asked, "Does it have anything to do with Yuka-chan?" Rei's eyed bugged. He wondered how Rin was able to guess his motives, but he also wondered how long Yuka and Rin seemed to be on such good terms.

"Yuka-chan?" he echoed.

Rin looked uninterestedly at the blue-haired boy. "You like her, right? I just assumed you were doing this for her." Rin didn't care if Rei liked her, too. He just hoped that Yuka wasn't interested.

Rei had started blushing mildly and he stammered. "U-uh. Right! O-or well. I've always wanted to swim like Haruka Nanase. I thought that swimming only one style, like him, would be enough. But..." Rei suddenly spoke passionately, lips thinning. "I didn't want to give up!" Rin blinked at the intensity in his voice. Rei continued, "I want to show everyone that I can work hard and succeed at this. I want to show that to Yuka, to inspire her and show her my determination."

It took a moment before Rin clucked and smiled. "Okay. In that case, if you want to impress them all you'll need to keep working."

Rei returned the smile and nodded. "Right!" He pulled on his goggles and readied himself to dive into breaststroke. Rin watched him with a new respect. He didn't like to admit that he had some good competition here. As a determined swimmer, sure, but mostly as competition for Yuka. For some reason, however, it made Rin happy to help Rei get there. _He really has worked hard._

* * *

"Thank you for waiting!" shouted Rei from his place on the Iwatobi starting block. Yuka, Gou, Haruka, Makoto and Nagisa were squished together on the bench by the pool. Rei had announced that he had a surprise to show them. They happily went along with the show, knowing that he was going to demonstrate his new swimming strokes. "The time has come for me to reveal my new magnificent form!" Rei said grandly. His purple eyes twinkled haughtily as he dived in and gawkily swam front crawl.

"Rei is swimming freestyle," Haruka commented.

"That's amazing Rei-chan!" called Nagisa, playing along. "You've learned how to swim all the strokes!"

"Nagisa-kun," Yuka whispered harshly. "He's only showed us freestyle! We're not supposed to know that he's learnt them all!"

"This isn't good enough, guys," said Gou. "We need to look more surprised!"

Then they started acting exaggeratedly surprised. Or, they tried to. It sounded to Yuka like the guys were cranky and robotic.

"What? How can this be?" Nagisa proclaimed.

Makoto deadpanned, "When did he learn to swim like this?"

Haruka sounded like an old man telling off loud kids as he said, "What is going on here?"

Yuka sighed, "Surprise isn't something you guys are convincing at."

"You guys are hopeless," agreed Gou.

They watched Rei struggle across the water. "Maybe we should tell him the truth?" suggested Nagisa guiltily.

"No! We definitely cannot," replied Makoto. Then Rei's head flew up from the water happily. His eyes crinkled as he grinned.

"What do you think, everyone? About my swimming? Honestly, you can't help but be amazed, can you?!" Then he bellowed.

Yuka giggled. He looked so cute, panting and flushed. She'd never seen him so happy. "That was amazing, Rei-kun!" she swooned. "That must have taken so much hard work!"

Rei blushed harder and laughed shyly. "I wanted to impress you guys."

As the others congratulated Rei, his and Yuka's eyes met and Yuka shot him her biggest smile. He gave her a winning smile of his own as he winked at her, before pulling himself out of the pool.


	14. Chapter 14

"You've sure been busy lately," Emiko commented as she watched her daughter rush around the kitchen. Yuka dried a couple more plates, stacked them and moved them over to the cupboard. She was once again hurriedly sorting things before she had to leave to meet Gou in town for a day of shopping.

"Yeah, I'm sorry mum. I'll be back later in the afternoon, though," she replied, hanging up the damp towel. She turned to say goodbye to her mum, giving her a quick hug.

"Want to watch a film tonight?" her mother asked with a smile.

Yuka smiled back, "That sounds nice. I have a bit of homework to do first, though."

"Okay, well have a think about what you'd like to watch, and have a nice day with your friend."

"Thanks mum, see you." Yuka quickly kissed her mum on the cheek and sped out the door, leaving Jun barking after her.

It was the weekend, and Gou had wanted to go clothes shopping with Yuka. It was the first overcast day in a long while and the air was cool. Yuka had put on a pair of black skinny jeans and a baggy grey jumper. She looked cute due to her slim boyish figure, and she wasn't cycling so she didn't need to worry about her jeans being too tight.

She met Gou in front of a popular cafe and complimented the girl on how pretty she looked in her simple sundress and leggings. "Thank you, Yuka-chan! You look super cute today, too," she replied.

"Sorry if you were waiting long," said Yuka sheepishly. "I always seem to be the last one anywhere..."

"Don't be silly!" giggled Gou. "Besides, I was only waiting for like... a minute! Come on!" She grabbed Yuka by the arm and pulled the light girl along with her. "Let's shop already."

* * *

_Why would they put the heating on? _

Yuka felt slightly feverish as she stood underneath the circulating warm air. The heat was making her feel kind of sleepy, and Yuka didn't feel up to browsing when she felt sleepy.

_It's not even that cold out. _

"What about this one?" called Gou from behind. Yuka turned to see the girl holding a pretty red dress up to her body.

"That's nice!" she said, trying to hide her growing discomfort. "Are you going to try it on?"

Gou looked at herself holding the dress in the nearby mirror and hummed, "I guess so, yeah."

Yuka nodded, "Cool, I'll just be around by here then."

Gou left Yuka to browse around the overpriced dresses. Though, Yuka was used to going straight to sales sections so anything might seem overpriced in comparison to her lucky finds and bargain reductions. The blonde would convince Gou to let her choose the next shop. She picked up the tag of a simple looking dress and raised her eyebrows. _I probably shouldn't let her buy that dress..._

Yuka's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a loud male voice shout, "GOU-CHAN!"

On the other side of the shop, Gou inwardly cringed. _It's KOU! _she wanted to scream but instead she whipped her head around and cursed lightly. The younger Mikoshiba stood a way from her, grinning idiotically and waving frantically.

Not wanting to be bombarded by the redhead's weird fondness of her, Gou ducked behind the closest clothes rack, dumping the dress she'd picked messily in the midst, and did a weird duck-run out of the shop. Once she'd given the boy the slip, she thought, she could text Yuka and simply meet up with her again. Though that was easier said than done since Gou heard the boy as he followed her. "NO, GOU! IT'S MOMO-KUN!"

Meanwhile, Yuka frowned at fellow customers as she searched for the scene. "What the..." she murmured, wondering what her friend was up to. Then she spotted a familiar head of burgundy hair, though it didn't belong to the girl in question.

"Uh, hey," she said as she snuck up behind him. Rin jumped and his eyebrows shot up.

"Yuka-chan?"

Rin looked good. He was wearing dark colours as usual, in a black v-neck top and skinny jeans. Yuka studied him longer than probably necessary but that meant that she caught his eyes as they slid down her accentuated slim legs. Yuka giggled stiffly, "Yeah. Funny seeing you here..." She'd meant it as a one of those standard, typical opening lines but as her eyes strayed to the cute dresses surrounding him she frowned. "What _are _you doing here?"

Rin looked startled for a moment as he coughed out, "Wh-what do you think?" He let out a strangled laugh, "Shopping!"

"Oh..."

"-But not for me!" He quickly finished, holding his hands up.

"Oh..." Yuka repeated, interest piquing. "Then, who are you buying for?"

She couldn't help the split second of disappointment that weighed her down as she registered that he was buying expensive dresses for someone. She managed to tug a smile to her lips attempting to appear teasing.

Though something flipped in Rin's stomach at seeing that forced smile. He could tell that something wasn't right with the girl, that she seemed sad in that instant. Rin's uncontrollable reaction was to smile and fist pump the air, but he only performed the former. _Is she jealous? _wondered Rin before he answered, "Oh, no. Well, my sister told me that I needed to hurry up and buy her a birthday present. Then she practically threatened me into buying it today. From here..." He trailed off, slowly registering the fact that he'd been played.

"That's odd," frowned Yuka, ignoring the waterfall of relieved butterflies, "Because I'm shopping here with her today. Why would she make you come here if she was coming herself?" Then it clicked.

Gou's voice rejoiced in Yuka's head: "**I need to set you up with someone! O-oh! Or my brother? You'd be so good for him!**"

Yuka could have groaned. But then she'd have to explain _to Rin _what was going on. _How embarrassing would THAT be?! _thought Yuka, slightly blushing from the realisation alone. So instead she hastily shrugged, thinking on the spot, "It makes sense actually, maybe it's so she can find what she wants and make you buy it. So that, you know, you don't... buy something... she doesn't like."

Rin eyed her. He wondered if she'd figured it out, too. "I think she's run off," he said finally.

"Oh..."_ Of course she would, _thought Yuka, _this was all part of the plan_.

Rin studied the people nearby as he worked up the courage to ask her-

But Yuka stole the words away before he could even suggest, "Do you wanna hang out, then?" Yuka was the one looking away now. _Technically, I haven't made it a date. So I shouldn't be this nervous. But this is, like, technically date two! Oh wait, oh hell! I missed what he said. Did he say something? _Yuka felt stupid now. "Huh?"

Rin shrugged, holding back a shit-eating grin and another fist pump, as he repeated, "Sounds fun."

* * *

_Look at them_! Gou squealed to herself, watching as her brother and Yuka awkwardly interacted with each other. "They're so cute!" She celebrated under her breath. She pushed the plant leaf aside and leaned in closer as she watched her brother take Yuka's hand and lead her into a shop. Gou squealed again. Both of their faces were pink-hued and it would have been perfect if her brother hadn't been walking ten times too fast, practically dragging the poor blonde in his wake.

Gou hadn't exactly planned for PLAN ROMANCE to happen this way. She was just going to force her brother to spend time with herself and Yuka, before leaving them suddenly for something that she had to leave for suddenly. But this way worked.

Gou's breath hitched as she heard an annoying cry that went up and down in pitch.

"GOU-CCHHAAAN!" Momo whined from around the corner. Gou slinked further into her hiding spot. _Why'd my dumb brother have to bring him along? Jeez. If I were him I'd start paying for my subscription to Muscles Monthly! This idiot's making it difficult to stalk them from afar. _"GGGOOOOUU-CHAAAAAAN!" The orange haired boy cried again. _  
_

* * *

**Author: I'm so so so so sorry that writer's block happened. I had lots of ideas but nothing seemed right, so this was just completely new. And I was super busy... and more excuses... and I'm sorry :) Love me, yes?**


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